The Lonely Little Shinobi
by Zlo1313
Summary: Temari and Kankuro watch as Gaara is bullied relentlessly and do only what they think siblings should do.


**Just a little story about a moment in Gaara's past with his siblings. I always wondered: "Where were Temari and Kankuro?" since they didn't seem to be anywhere when Gaara was being bullied. So, I thought I'd write this! Enjoy!**

**I do not own Naruto!**

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"Why don't you just go away, freak?! No one wants you here!"

"Your own family fears you!"

"Why don't you just die?!"

"Your mommy killed herself just to be away from you!"

He covered his ears and shut his eyes tightly. The other children danced around him, singing tauntingly. Their words still slithered past his fingers, creeping into his ear, and permeating in his brain. Shukaku growled in rage inside him. He whimpered.

"Stop it." He whispered, too softly for them to hear.

"Tanuki!"

"Sand-freak!"

"Murderer!"

"Stop!" He said louder, but they ignored it.

Two children weren't joining in on the ridicule. A girl and a boy. The girl was eight and the boy was seven. She chewed on her lip with nervous fury. It was her youngest brother they were picking on. She looked at her other brother, Kankuro, who looked just as uncomfortable as she felt.

"Temari, shouldn't we do something?" He finally asked, looking up at his older sister.

She glanced at the little redhead curled up in a ball. She could hear his sobs from here. It egged the children on further. One dared to strike him. She gripped her fists. She wanted to do something, but her own fear prevented her from doing anything. She didn't move, didn't respond to Kankuro. He didn't move either. The two just looked on hopelessly as finally, their brother could take no more and ran off to an isolated part of the playground.

He sank into the sandbox, sniffling. The sand was warm and soft against his bare legs and arms. It was soothing. Shukaku was still seething, but the sand seemed to curb his previous rage. It left Gaara alone for just a little while longer, much to his relief. He dug his hands into the sand and wriggled his fingers, feeling each grain slide between the spaces of his fingers. He only played half heartedly. He wished he had a friend.

Gaara looked over to where his siblings stood. Temari was gone, to his surprise, but Kankuro was still there. He was sitting against a boulder, his arms folded across his chest. He was staring at Gaara, a frown down-turning his lips. Gaara whimpered and looked away. He had been trying to get the courage to ask if they would play with him, but the look Kankuro was giving him discouraged him. He started to make a sand castle, the sand molding itself without him really having to do anything.  
He had always had a firm grip on making sand move willingly for him. Though he was only five, he was pretty good at it. He wasn't sure why he was so good with sand, though. Granted, he was from Sunagakure and his father was Kazekage, but no one in his family really seemed able to control sand as well as he could. He feared it was because of Shukaku sealed inside him.

Gaara started to make a teddy bear out of sand. He sighed forlornly. His father didn't allow him to have toys. His uncle tried to give him a toy once, but his father destroyed it in front of him, saying monsters didn't deserve toys. That familiar, hollow ache came back and Gaara touched his chest where his heart was. It was starting to throb more, especially when the other children said those hateful things to him. He wasn't a monster, he was a normal kid like them...wasn't he?

Footsteps coming from behind made his mind snap back to attention. His sand bear and castle crumbled and the sand twitched warningly. He turned around to see Temari approaching him, her arms folded behind her back as though she was hiding something. He eyes her warily and dared to smile nervously at her.

"H-h-hi, T-Temari..." He whispered, breaking eye contact at the last second.

He missed Temari's equally apprehensive smile as she bent down beside the sandbox. "Hi, Gaara. I have something for you."

Gaara looked back up at her with hopeful anxiousness. She pulled her arms to the front of her body and he saw she was holding a stuffed bear. His emerald eyes widened and he slowly held his arms out. She handed it to him and he instantly buried his face in its head. It was soft and plush and warm and-

He beamed up at her. "T-thank you, Temari."

She returned the smile and stood up. "You're welcome."

She walked away from him to join Kankuro. The two bent their heads close together, whispering. Gaara looked away from them and carefully set his new bear in front of him.

"Hi, my name's Gaara. What's yours?" He cupped a hand to his ear and waited for a second.

"...Kaonai? I like that name! Do you wanna play with me?" He giggled happily as he imagined Kaonai nodding.

"Look at the sand-freak playing with a bear! He's such a baby!" His happiness shrunk as the children decided to torment him some more.

He looked for Temari and Kankuro, but saw they were gone. A punch to the head made him cry out. The sand trembled and encased him in a protective shield. He hugged Kaonai to his chest, burying his face in its soft head once more. The children were outside, banging on the hard shield around him. Their taunts were muffled, but to him, they were as clear as day. He sobbed and hoped they would leave him soon.

Gaara didn't leave the protection of his sand shield until it was dark. The sand crumbled and he stood up shakily, hugging Kaonai. The children were long gone, their parents urging them away from the dome Gaara had hidden in, but he didn't want to take any chances. He stumbled home, hiccuping every so often when he caught the hateful glare of the adults. He tried to make himself as small as possible, dragging Kaonai behind him.

The lights were one at his home, but no one seemed to be there. He had the horrible feeling in his gut they were avoiding him like usual. Then:

"Gaara!" Kankuro called from a different room.

He trembled and called, "Y-yes?"

"Gaara, come here!" Kankuro coaxed.

He nervously walked to the room where the voice was coming from and saw it was Kankuro's room. A large box was set up in the center of the room. A black "curtain", which Gaara recognized as one of Kankuro's robes, was hung over it. Kankuro was standing behind the box, smiling.

"Sit!" He ordered.

Gaara willingly plopped himself down on the ground, setting Kaonai on his lip. Kankuro disappeared behind the box and the black "curtains" pulled back, revealing one puppet that looked incredibly similar to Gaara.

"The Lonely Little Shinobi." Temari's voice dictated from somewhere else in the room. He didn't bother to look for her, his eyes transfixed on the puppet.

The puppet covered its eyes in a manner similar to crying. Other puppets surrounded it, their expressions evil. Puppet Gaara remained there, crying, seeming to get smaller as the other puppets continued to dance around him. Gaara's heart gave a pang again. Was Kankuro making fun of him?

Then, the other puppets scrambled off the "stage", leaving Puppet Gaara alone. Two other puppets walked over to him, each placing a hand on Puppet Gaara's shoulders. They were Temari and Kankuro. They had soft smiles painted on their faces. Puppet Gaara stood up and they held his hand. They skittered out of sight.

"The end!" Temari finalized, she and Kankuro popping out from behind the box.

Tear after tear slid down Gaara's cheeks, but they weren't sad tears. They were happy. His siblings went over to him, kneeling beside him, and hugged him tightly. Temari tickled his stomach and he laughed through his tears.

"Always keep on smiling no matter what." She poked his cheeks as she pulled a camera out.

Kankuro set Gaara on his lap and threw an arm around Temari's shoulders. The three siblings leaned their heads against each other as Temari snapped the picture.

Gaara sat at his desk in Kazekage Tower, his pale hands folded underneath his chin. He studied the picture in front of him. He was smiling in the photo, tears still running down his cheeks. Temari and Kankuro were both looking at him lovingly. He looked up at his siblings now. Kankuro was sitting on the floor, fiddling with his favorite puppet. Temari was sitting in a chair near Kankuro, idly twirling her fan.

"Kankuro. Temari." Their eyes snapped to their younger brother, surprised to see him smiling.

"Thank you."


End file.
